


Stress

by shiftyking



Category: Red Dwarf (UK TV)
Genre: Getting Together, Kisses, Lister is a cutie, M/M, Pre-Series, Sick Fic, Yearning, brief past suicide attempt mention, cuteness, medibay visits, worrying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25730608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiftyking/pseuds/shiftyking
Summary: For Jenna who requested this ficRimmer gets ill and Lister panics.
Relationships: Dave Lister/Arnold Rimmer
Comments: 8
Kudos: 40





	1. Lonely

Lister was getting used to having a weird and irritating roommate. He was, honest. He was used to the fact that it was just better if he hung his jacket up when he got back from the pub. He quite enjoyed having a calendar up that they wrote their events on (not that Rimmer had them he just wrote historical dates and a couple of possible family ones just like JR Birthday). He’d got used to the fact that at first he thought Rimmer was just stubborn, annoying and seriously pedantic but slowly he realised that the whole thing was a very fragile front and that something was off with him. 

It took a long time to separate the two behaviours. The ones that were just annoying and the ones that seemed to protect him. Lister spent a lot of his time working out which bits were which. As he puzzled through Rimmer’s actions like worlds weirdest Sudoku he slowly started to notice Rimmer open up very very slowly.  
At first with Lister being nice or helping or even just asking questions that weren’t too invasive Rimmer seemed nervous and keen to push him away. Then slowly if you kept very slowly being nice and walking up to him, maybe the way you’d befriend a tiger or some of other unpredictable animal Rimmer would start to act slightly differently.  
Things like mentioning his brothers, something he barely did. Occasional conversations about childhood would stop almost completely and Rimmer would often disappear for a while. Like a ghost. Then he’d come back and everything was tickety boo.

Then he got ill and it all changed. It was obvious to Lister that something was properly wrong with Rimmer. He was already super pale and very skinny but his eyes were bloodshot. He’d obviously been sick in the night but was trying not to be obvious about it. Lister marked that down mentally as something to be concerned about.  
He didn’t seem to eat the next day and barely drank anything while on shift. No matter how hard Lister pushed him. In fact he barely spoke. He really was like the great ghost of Z Shift. By the end of it, Lister was worried enough to tell the others who didn’t seem at all surprised.

“yeah Rimmer’s always been like that. Ended up in the medibay multiple times because he won’t get help best to leave him to it well apart from a few other times. Dude’s a bit of a basket case” Selby informed quietly. 

Lister didn’t think that seemed right at all. He may not have liked him much but the man had no one. His letters were down to nothing. He seemingly spoke to no one else but Lister and anyone else work related. It was now a year and a half since he’d heard from his brothers.

Lister remembers that day well. An envelope from his brother Frank with a perfunctory note saying he’d got married and the whole family had been there, how he didn’t invite him because (Lister didn’t read that bit as it was snatched away). But what the letter lacked in kindness it made up for in it’s contents. Five wedding photos. The family all standing there, forced smiles. Rimmer was so chuffed that he showed them to Lister. Pointing out each of his brothers medals. He’d actually got out a small bottle of spirit he’d saved for special occasions. It seemed the happiest Rimmer had ever been.

“so who’s that one then” Lister asked halfway through another shot

“That one is Howard” Rimmer beamed “He’s working on one of the Space Corp’s experimentral Fleet and that one” he pointed “is John now he’s doing all sorts of things. He has a grand Ionian medal of bravery.

“Brutal” Lister replied actually interested. This was the closest he’d got to Rimmer and it was kinda fascinating “and the woman with the thing in her hair?”

“Oh that’s um my Mother” Rimmer replied quieter

“And the short bloke with the waistcoat” Lister pointed again

“That’s my father” Rimmer whispered

“He looks nothing like any of you” Lister remarked

“No I spose not” Rimmer said downing another glass.

“Probably a good thing” Lister smiled at him.

It was a good night one Lister actually enjoyed. But that was a long time ago now. Lister walked back to his room at the end of the night still reminiscing. As he opened the door he saw Rimmer looking really unwell still. He’d obviously been sick again even though Lister couldn’t see any evidence he could smell the cleaning products in the air. In fact whilst Rimmer was asleep he really did look very ill. Worryingly so. Tossing and turning, sweat through the sheets. Then he stopped just sort of lying there barely breathing  
He hung his jacket off and went over to him quietly.

“Rimmer?” he said swiftly trying to wake him up.

Rimmer didn’t move. He just lay there listlessly. He looked completely limp like a corpse. In fact it was enough to freak Lister out. He tried to wake him up again trying not to freak out.

“Rimmer, please man come on” Lister whispered “your really freaking me out here”. 

Rimmer barely moved just made a weird kind of noise. A sort of strange deep cough that sounded too death rattle-y to not freak out Lister more. 

“Hol” Lister asked the dark screen on the wall

“Hello Dave, What can I do you for?” The head popped up on the screen

“Can you call the medibay, It’s Rimmer he seems proper unwell”

“well eh does look a big peaky. All right they’ll be down in three minutes. Keep your room doors unlocked. Bye Dave” and the head disappeared leaving Lister alone with Rimmer.  
He honestly didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t meant to happen. Rimmer was the grown up of the pair. The one who told him off when he was messing up or told him to go to bed he was ill. He wasn’t meant to be the one to get ill. 

Rimmer made another strange noise and then stopped. His breathing becoming shallower and shallower. Lister grabbed his hand it seemed the right thing to do. As he stared at him wishing to any deity out there that his roommate didn’t die he vaguely realised He was far more attached to him than he thought. Yes he was a bit of a smeghead but he probably meant well. He definitely didn’t want him to die. I mean who else did Rimmer have to mourn for him? It was too much for Lister who was so caught up in his own anxiety that he was crying while holding Rimmer’s hand when the medibay team burst in. Three people in medical suits bursting in.

“Oh Gosh, Rimmer again” one of them said “What’s wrong with him this time?”

Lister was annoyed and scared “I don’t know. I just got in and he was like this. He won’t answer. He’s been sick over the last couple of days. He’s not eating” Lister’s voice got louder and louder and angrier as he continued.

“All right try and be calm” the second member of the team said. She was a tall woman with a kind face. “Did he take anything?”  
As the other man started looking at him he called the others over. It seemed bad.  
“ummm unsure” Lister replied.

“Right, it’s just he has a history” she said quickly and turned to the others. They started moving Rimmer talking in medical terms they didn’t understand, things about oxygen and blood tests. Then they’d got him on a stretcher. The woman asking him to come down to medibay to tell them what had been going on.  
He followed them like a one man parade. He was petrified. Everything seemed to slow down. Rimmer was barely breathing, something something about oxygen. They lifted up his shirt and Lister could see every bone. 

When they were there he was hurried somewhere else and Lister was left in the waiting room. A nurse sitting next to him asking him a lot of questions and then she was gone leaving him one of those pointlessly small plastic coffee cups in his hand and more questions than answers.  
It led to him sitting there thinking. Why were they asking him what he’d taken? What the hell would have Rimmer taken if he had taken anything? Lister had never seen Rimmer take so much as a paracetamol do that led him to a bunch of other questions. Why was Rimmer so skinny? Why did he look so unwell and why had he not asked for help?  
Then his brain got more morbid. What would happen if Rimmer died? Who would pack up his things? Call his family? Would any of them care? What happened between him and his family anyway. It was all big bundle of anxious questions that didn’t come with any answers. He finished the coffee and squashed the cup between his fingers.  
The nurse came back out.


	2. Getting Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rimmer is still in the medibay but someone agrees to help him because he's maybe just a little bit in love with him.

“He’s stable now, you can come in if you want” she said kindly.

He smiled at the nurse and stood up ambling in. She took the coffee cup off him saying she’d bring him another one. He stopped dead when he looked in the room. There he was strapped up to oxygen looking barely there. He looked so small. He was covered in drips and wires like some strange science experiment. He barely looked like a person at all.  
He sat himself in the chair next to the bed and looked at him.

“Call me if he wakes up” the nurse said kindly “now you have your coffee and then we need to talk about what’s going on”

She handed him the cup and left. Lister got comfy in the chair confused how he had inadvertently become the one person who was there was for Rimmer. He supposed he was the only one Rimmer had. He closed his eyes feeling the now empty cup slip out of his hand.

He was woken up by a cold hand grabbing his. Rimmer’s eyes meeting his looking at him in a drowsy confusion. 

“Hey Rimmer” Lister said softly “you feeling better?”

Rimmer opened his mouth but no sound came out.

Lister called the nurse in who asked Lister politely to wait outside so out he went again. Back on the same waiting room chair. It must have been five minutes when the nurse came out and sat next to him.

“Right now Arnold’s in a bit of a bad way. We won’t release him until we know he’s safe enough to be on his own or has someone with him, would you say you can do that for him. How long have you two been together” she said calmly putting a hand on Lister. Lister was now aware that potentially she getting the wrong end of a very long stick.  
“umm he’s my roommate and technically my boss kind of. I mean he’s a bit of a dick but he’s got no-one else and actually he’s not that bad and he's actually quite sweet and…” As Lister verbally diarrhoea’d all over the poor nurse who was just sitting looking at him like he was an idiot.

“I’m not here to judge. To be honest it’s nice to see someone with him for once. I mean last time was..” she shook her head kindly “bless him he’s had a rough life. Very delicate. No matter what you are to him you care enough to follow him down to the medibay and stay with him that’s enough for me. You’d get the time off work if you decided to take care of him but he would need constant vigilance someone to take him to appointments. We think this was just caused by stress but given his history we have to be very careful.”.  
She looked back at Lister again pointedly.

“Has he really got no one else who ever’s been down here with him? Lister asked quietly.

“No love. Always turns up alone if he turns up at all. Todhunter came up last time I think just to check in think he found him” She said sadly 

“I’ll do it. I’ll look after him” Lister replied surprising himself.

“Brilliant, He’s just about awake at the moment but I think he’ll go back to sleep soon so you might wanna drop in explain yourself a bit get him comfortable. He did ask me about you which I’ll take as a good sign” She smiled again and patted his arm. 

He walked back in the breathing tube was still in but the oxygen mask was now off him. He still looked like death warmed up and he stared at Lister confused. 

“Hello again” Lister said quietly sitting at the edge of the bed. 

“Hello” Rimmer croaked “what have they told you?”

“That you’ve made yourself proper sick from stress but you need someone with ya. Something to do with your past history” Rimmer went white (or even whiter) Lister continued “but I won’t ask I figure you’ll tell me what I need to do you normally do” The attempt at humour sat there awkwardly in the air.

“It wasn’t anything. These people hold last time against me you know” Rimmer whispered as he coughed lightly. 

“You want some water?” Lister asked him

Rimmer nodded quietly. As Lister passed it over they brushed hands. Rimmer blushed and Lister just smiled.

“So uh I’m gonna be looking after you and stuff because you have to be supervised” Lister broached the subject carefully.

“You have to be supervised normally” Rimmer whispered rolling his eyes but smiling.

“Well we’re switching places” Lister replied smiling lightly.

Rimmer grabbed his hand “thank you Lister” 

They stayed like that for a minute before Rimmer started talking. Just little things about his home, his family. It was then that Lister realised why Rimmer was the way he was why he was so angry, why he pushed people away. He understood it all. 

He leaned over without even thinking about it and kissed him. Rimmer’s eyebrows shot up into his hair and then he kissed back deepening it. Lister pulled back smiling.   
“You know” Rimmer started “I don’t think being looked after by you will be so bad after all”

Lister giggled and kissed him again. The nurse outside peeked through the window and smiled happy to see Rimmer finally with someone who cared.

They had a long way to go the two of them but in that moment with Lister next to him Rimmer knew it was going to be ok. He didn’t need anyone else. They had each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we go my sick fic! Hope you enjoyed never written one before!  
> It was almost even longer!  
> Also thanks for the prompt Jenna!  
> Comments are love!

**Author's Note:**

> A sickfic for Jenna. I only meant this to be a one shot but it ended up being over 2,000 words so ooops! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Comments are love!


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